Letter calling for spiritual leaders involvement in Environm

Letter calling for spiritual leaders involvement in Environm

Postby Oscar » Sun May 13, 2007 8:44 pm

Back to the Farm Research Foundation
Elmer Laird, President
Box 69, Davidson, SK S0G 1A0
Telephone: (306) 567-4260
Fax: (306) 567-4265


April 30, 2007

Open letter to:
1. Very Rev. John van Nostrand Wright, Executive Director, Anglican Church of Canada
2. Bishop Albert LeGatt, The Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon
3. Rev. Dr. Ralph E. Mayan, Lutheran Church of Canada
4. The Right Rev. David Guiliano, Moderator, The United Church of Canada
5. Mr. William D. Morror, Superintendent, Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada
6. Mr. Bernie Farber, Chief Executive Officer, The Canadian Jewish Congress

To the leaders of all the above churches and Canadian Jewish Congress

Re. It is obvious that the Canadian Government and Federal politicians need spiritual and moral direction to develop a new Environmental Act.

I respectfully request that you help the federal politicians by providing some spiritual and moral assistance to develop the proposed new Environmental Act - sometimes called the Clean Air Act, The Kyoto Agreement or Protocol which was passed in 1997. Ten years have gone by and we still do not have any legislation. In the meantime our food, air and water are all becoming increasingly more polluted. Our National Medicare Program is under an ever-increasing amount of stress, and we have more illness in our environment and population because of pollution.

Dr. Allan Cesna of Saskatoon with the National Water Research Institute (Federal Environment) reports that here in Saskatchewan our surface water is all polluted with herbicides. In fact he reports that pesticides sprayed in Russia are drifting over the North Pole to Saskatchewan now.

Federal politicians and bureaucrats think the Medicare system can be saved with money.

Well, I am sorry to say it will only be preserved if we clean up the environment and produce the most healthy, most nutritious food it is possible to produce.

The Standing Committee of the Environment and Sustainable Development in the year of 2000 produced a 212-page report entitled "Pesticides, Making the Right Choices For the Protection of Health and The Environment". On page 184 it said under the heading "Tax Incentives For Organic Agriculture":

The Committee recommends that the government develop an organic agriculture policy for the transition from pesticide-dependent farming to organic farming. This policy should include tax incentives, an interim support program during the transition period, technical support for farmers, the development of post-secondary organic farming programs and enhanced funding for research and development (R&D) in organic agriculture.

The Environment Committee is an all-party committee and was chaired by long time environmentalist MP Charles Caccia of Davenport constituency in Toronto. Seven years have gone by and no one has taken any action to keep from spraying God’s or Mother Nature's creatures which are people, domestic animals, wildlife and our soils with toxic pesticides.

Conventional or chemical farmers use large amounts of chemical fertilizer to provide nitrogen to their soils which are made from natural gas and are becoming increasingly more expensive. The use of natural gas contributes to the increase of green house gases.

Certified organic farmers use legumes such as alfalfa, clover, peas, lentils and chickpeas in their crop rotations that also provide nitrogen for the soil. However, this is free nitrogen from the air and does not contribute to green house gases.

Herbicides today are obsolete for all practical purposes. Weeds have built up a resistance to them and only by using GMOs to strengthen the main crop plant you are trying to grow will stronger pesticides control weeds. However, we will continue to use an increasingly stronger herbicide and will eventually destroy the life in the soil. The time to make food production in Canada certified organic is long overdue.

I haven't heard any comment either from the churches or Jewish Congress about what is happening to (God's creatures) worldwide because of the toxic effects of pesticides.

A recent study assembled by farm activist Percy Schmeiser of Bruno, Sask. shows that beekeepers in 22 states in the U.S. in the last winter have lost 80 per cent of their honeybees. The study suggests that it may be caused by GMOs and pesticides. The bee disaster is in the area where large amounts of GMO corn and soya beans are grown. The information came from a CBC report, Sierra club report and Der Speigel German newspapers. (Schmeiser Report attached). Albert Einstein said, "If the bee disappeared off the face of the earth then man would only have four years left. No more bees, no more plants, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man".

Dr. Rev. Wee Chong Tan, PhD in Biochemistry, came to Canada 35 years ago to head up the Chinese section of the Lester B. Pearson section of the International University in Victoria, B.C. He warns that if man keeps using GMOs so he can use stronger herbicides it won't be very long before the productivity of the soil will be destroyed.

The demand for certified organic food is growing rapidly. Many women are concerned about what kind of an environment their children and grandchildren will grow up in. Pesticides are definitely not necessary to grow crops. They were developed in World Wars One and Two for biological controls in warfare. Unfortunately some one sold us a bill of goods following the Second World War which we won. We can grow an adequate supply of food without pesticides. All we have to decide is that we are going to do it.

Well, gentlemen, I am also enclosing a copy of the farm policy of The Back To The Farm Research Foundation. It is called Homestead #2. This is Saskatchewan's second century as a farming community. Saskatchewan became a province in 2005. I hope you reply to my letter and, if you do, I will see that it is published in The Davidson Leader. Perhaps there are environmental programs the churches and the Jewish Congress have had that I am not aware of. Let us know.

I sincerely hope you join the environmental clean up campaign if you haven't already.


Elmer Laird, President
Back to the Farm Research Foundation

Farm Policies and Objectives for The Back To The Farm Research & Demonstration Farm Homestead #2 - Saskatchewan's 2nd Century 2005:

1. To produce the most nutritious unpolluted food possible for humans, livestock and poultry consumption.
2. To demonstrate humane, open range, healthy methods of livestock and poultry production.
3. To assist people to find sources of healthy, nutritious, certified organic food.
4. To promote self-sufficient farms, communities, provinces and nations.
5. To find ways to get farmers back on the land.
6. To promote co-operation between farm and urban residents.
7. To promote and develop farm training programs for young people.
8. To meet or exceed the minimum standards of food production of the Canadian Organic Certification Co-operative Ltd., the Canadian Organic Advisory Board and the International Standards Organization.
9. To promote energy efficiency using methods such as wind power, solar heat, straw bale housing, etc.
10. To provide an opportunity for food bank production.
11. To introduce nosema locustae, a biological control for grasshoppers.
12. All cereal grains, oilseeds and legumes must be cleaned to export standards before they leave the community. Screenings should be used for poultry, hog, sheep and goat production.

New Demands:

1. Canada must rescind the Plant Breeders Rights Act for farmers' protection.
2. Canada must ban terminator seeds and genetically modified seeds to protect consumers' nutrition.
3. Canada must ban growth hormones and antibiotics in livestock and poultry production.
4. Canada must ban use of carbon monoxide in beef preservation.
5. Canada must protect farmers' rights to save their own seed.
6. Canada must ban hog factory pork production.
7. Federal government must subsidize farmers to go organic.

Soil conservation

1. To promote good soil and water conservation practices.
2. To measure rhizobial action and nitrogen fixation of legumes.
3. To measure soil bacteria.
4. To promote the use of biological controls for weeds and pests.
5. To demonstrate and promote composting of poultry, animal and human waste.
6. To keep accurate research records and measure soil nutrients and food nutrition in human, animal and poultry feed (grains, oilseeds, legumes and weeds).
7. To introduce organic fertilizers to organic farming.
8. To do research and demonstration of intercropping.
9. To publicize all results from all sources of research done on organic farms.

Water research


1. To check al water for pesticides, pollutants, etc. Dr. Allan Cessna of the National Hydrology Water Institute reports that all surface water and one third of deep wells are polluted with herbicides. Programs must be started immediately to find safe, unpolluted water for all Saskatchewan citizens.
2. To check water tables, train well witchers.

Research design hopefully subsidized by the Government of Saskatchewan

1. To research and design a prefab root cellar for rural and urban communities.
2. To encourage and promote solar heated straw bale greenhouses.

Psychological, medical and practical reasons to support Homestead # 2: Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine, (between 460 and 380 B.C.) said, "Let your food be your medicine and your medicine be your food."

We have been trying for several years to convince Premier Calvert and the government that they should be serving certified organic food in Saskatchewan hospitals, nursing homes, school lunch programs to food bank recipients, pregnant women and new mothers, colleges of agriculture, medicine, etc.

We need your help to convince the government. This is the road to health.



Elmer Laird, President
Back To The Farm Research Foundation
Oscar
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